Incident 223: Marked by the Plaguebearer (Object Class: Beloved): A Rivals-to-Lovers Academic Monster Romance with Forced Collaboration, Masked-Man Tension, and Slow-Burn Intensity

He’s brilliant, impossible, and utterly off-limits. I was sent to monitor him. I didn’t expect him to challenge everything I believed. Dr. Omolara “Lara” Adeyemi’s new post at Site Sulfur-3 was supposed to be simple—assist with containment research and file reports on the anomaly known as ARK-223, a monster in a plague-doctor mask who swears he can cure anything. The problem? He refuses to work without her. By day, Lara files reports and corrects his archaic methods. By night, their debates cut deep—modern science against ancient obsession, logic against faith. Each clash leaves her more entangled in his precision, his focus, the quiet intensity behind the mask. For the plague doctor, she’s the first mind to match his in centuries—a variable that disrupts every calculation. For Lara, he’s the one puzzle she can’t solve. When containment falters, rivalry becomes trust, and trust edges toward something neither of them are allowed to name. Incident 223: Marked by the Plaguebearer is a cozy-creepy romantasy full of academic tension, mask-kink intimacy, and forbidden collaboration—perfect for readers who love brilliant women, haunted geniuses, and slow-burn chemistry that starts as debate and ends in surrender. View Less